Lack of funding for Farming Rathcroghan met with shock and disbelief

The announcement that the future of the Farming Rathcroghan project is in jeopardy due to lack of funding has been met with shock and disbelief by members of Boyle Municipal District.

The unique project is aimed at protecting the renowned ancient royal site near Tulsk while also allowing local farmers to steward the land around it for future generations.

However, it has been announced by Farming Rathcroghan CLG that funding will only be able to keep the project alive in its current form until March.

With the loss of funding, the project office, its staff of five and all related schemes will cease to exist.

“Despite every effort being made over the last year to secure future long-term funding the Farming Rathcroghan Project in its current guise is set to cease operations shortly,” said the group following a recent board of management meeting.

The “lukewarm” and “non-committal” actions of state agencies were also highlighted in the statement with the group feeling it has been doing the job of state agencies for the last eight years.

A total of about €2.5 million had been allocated for the project with the goal of attaining UNESCO World Heritage status for the site.

The project has been made possible through a European Innovation Partnership from 2019 to 2024 and later through funding from the EU Just Transition Fund.

At the recent MD meeting Cllr Liam Callaghan said that “a lot of good work has been done by the farmers”.

He added that if there is any hope for the project, at the very least, the administration staff needs to be kept in place.

He pointed out that other funding streams are being explored and asked the Heritage Council and the OPW to engage with the board to come up with a plan.

“We might be able to salvage something,” he added.

He noted that there are 90 farmers involved in the project with more on a waiting list. “They have done a lot of work but the feeling is they aren’t wanted anymore.

“I think the National Heritage Council, the OPW, which owns a lot of the land in Rathcroghan, and the county council could come together so the staff could be kept in place for 12 months so that if there are applications that arise, there could be opportunities for funding.

“If the administration side of it goes, possibly the whole scheme could fall apart. The OPW, the Department of Agriculture and the Heritage Council have a role to play in that,” he concluded.

Cathaoirleach of the MD Cllr Sean Moylan said the “buy-in by local farmers was great, the land was kept tighter and cleaner. This is a heritage site and so valuable to our area. We need to keep the board alive, as once they are gone, they are gone.”

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Cllr Valerie Byrne on hearing the announcement.

“All the money that was put in and they are pulling the chair from under them.

“The farmers were ensuring that no damage was done (to the site).

“There should be no reason that the funding was pulled.

“This is a world status site we are talking about.

“The very least we need to do is keep the staff. It is not just about farmers, Tulsk and Roscommon, it is worldwide and is so important to our country.”

Cllr Moylan added: “I don’t think people understand the difficulty it caused to farmers, they were unable to get planning and they sacrificed so much (for the project).

“The by-pass was planned miles away from Rathcroghan for a reason,” he said adding, “the farmers are Rathcroghan.”